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HB 533GEORGIASession 2025_26State Billdead
Did Not Advance

Georgia Establishes Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act to Pay $75,000 per Year Served

Original title: Wrongful Conviction Compensation Act; enact

Last action · April 4, 2025: House Withdrawn, RecommittedSponsors: Katie Dempsey and 5 others

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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What This Bill Proposed

Georgia House Bill 533 creates a formal compensation process for individuals wrongfully convicted of felonies, allowing administrative law judges to award $75,000 for each year of incarceration, plus attorney fees, restitution, and healthcare costs. Claimants must file within three years of receiving notice or of July 1, 2025, and awards are paid out of judiciary appropriations upon recommendation to the Chief Justice.

Why it matters

Wrongfully convicted individuals gain a direct legal avenue to claim financial restitution from the state, bypassing standard civil damages limits and protections, with payments funded through judiciary appropriations and adjusted annually for inflation.

Background
  • The Supreme Court of Georgia heads the state's judicial branch and is involved here through the Chief Justice receiving compensation recommendations. context
  • The Office of State Administrative Hearings conducts administrative hearings for state agencies in Georgia under existing state law. context

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Wrongfully convicted individuals

Individuals who served felony sentences for crimes they did not commit become eligible to file claims for financial compensation, healthcare reimbursement, and legal fee recovery.

Directly affected

Heirs at law

Heirs at law or designated beneficiaries of deceased claimants are authorized to bring claims and receive compensation payments.

Directly affected

Office of State Administrative Hearings

Administrative law judges within the office are required to hear claims, evaluate evidence, determine eligibility, and issue compensation recommendations.

Key Facts

  • Claimants are eligible to receive $75,000 for each year of incarceration, with prorated amounts for partial years.
  • Claimants receive an additional $25,000 for each year spent incarcerated while awaiting a death sentence based on the conviction.
  • Awards include reasonable attorney's fees, reimbursement for restitution, fines, fees, and reintegrative healthcare costs.
  • Claims must be filed with the Office of State Administrative Hearings within three years of receiving notice or of July 1, 2025, or within two years of obtaining new evidence of innocence.
Show all 11 facts
  • Payments exceeding $1.5 million must be made in three equal annual installments.
  • Awards are exempt from state income taxes, though attorney's fees remain subject to taxation.
  • If recommendations are received before September 1, the Chief Justice includes the compensation in the current fiscal year amended budget and issues a $6,000 transitional assistance advance within 60 days.
  • If recommendations are received on or after September 1, compensation is included in the next fiscal year budget, and an $18,000 transitional assistance advance is issued within 60 days.
  • Dollar amounts are adjusted annually starting January 1, 2025, based on the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • The General Assembly waives sovereign immunity for the purpose of authorizing payment of these claims.
  • Wrongful conviction claims are explicitly excluded from the purview of the Claims Advisory Board.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much compensation can a wrongfully convicted person receive?
A claimant receives $75,000 for each year of incarceration, an additional $25,000 per year if awaiting a death sentence, plus reimbursement for legal fees, restitution, fines, and healthcare costs.
Who evaluates the claims for wrongful conviction?
Administrative law judges within the Office of State Administrative Hearings evaluate the claims and make recommendations to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
What is the deadline for filing a claim?
Claims must be filed within three years after receiving formal notice of the Act or by July 1, 2025 (whichever is later), or within two years of obtaining new evidence of innocence.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

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Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.

Procedural history

5 actions
  1. Apr 4, 2025House
    House Withdrawn, Recommitted
  2. Mar 4, 2025HouseCommittee
    House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
  3. Feb 21, 2025House
    House Second Readers
  4. Feb 20, 2025HouseIntroduced
    House First Readers
  5. Feb 19, 2025HouseIntroduced
    House Hopper

Version history & redline

2 versions on file
Comparing LC 60 0088/a → LC 48 1570S/hs
removed addedOfficial text
25 LC removed: 60 0088 added: 48 1570S The House removed: Bill 533 By: Representatives Dempsey of the 13th , Holcomb of the 101 st , Efstration of the 104th , Wiedower of the 121st , Smith of added: Committee on Judiciary, Non-Civil offers the removed: 18th , and others added: following substitute to HB 533: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Titles 17 and 28 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to criminal procedure […] chapter; and (2) A statement explaining the administrative law judge's calculation of the amount of compensation due, in accordance with Code Section 17-22-7. (b) removed: An added: Subject to funds appropriated by the General Assembly, an award of compensation under this chapter shall be paid out of the funds appropriated for the judiciary. If the Chief Justice receives the recommendation […] subsequently filed by the defendant under this chapter. (b) Upon the issuance of a pardon of innocence or a commutation of sentence resulting in removed: release, added: release because of a finding of innocence, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles shall provide a copy of this chapter to the individual receiving the pardon or commutation. The individual […]
Redline computed from the official version text (record lane).View this version →

Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Sponsors

Katie DempseyHouse · District 13RepublicanPrimary sponsor
Scott HolcombHouse · District 101DemocraticCosponsor
Chuck EfstrationHouse · District 104RepublicanCosponsor
Wiedower, Marcus 121stHouseCosponsorNo profile match
Tyler SmithHouse · District 18RepublicanCosponsor
Show 1 more sponsor
Darlene TaylorHouse · District 173RepublicanCosponsor

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift99% confidence

Removal from Claims Advisory Board

Wrongful conviction claims are formally removed from the jurisdiction of the Claims Advisory Board and given a dedicated administrative hearing track.

Claims Advisory BoardOffice of State Administrative Hearings

Connected Entities

Claims Advisory Board, Attorney General, State Board of Pardons and Paroles and 3 more
OrganizationClaims Advisory Board“Excluded from purview over wrongful conviction compensation claims”Map →
OrganizationAttorney General“Receives notice of claims and has an opportunity to respond”Map →
OrganizationState Board of Pardons and Paroles“Provides copies of the Act upon issuing pardons of innocence”Map →
OrganizationSupreme Court of Georgia“Chief Justice receives compensation recommendations and establishes acknowledgme”Map →
OrganizationOffice of State Administrative Hearings“Hears and evaluates claims of wrongful conviction”Map →
OrganizationBureau of Labor Statistics“Publishes Consumer Price Index used for annual adjustments”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.legis.ga.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance20
    Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
  • Controversy35
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment10
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz40
    Current news / social attention level

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